Loving the Busy Life

Yes, I realize October 10th was my last post.
Eeeek!
That is WAY too long!
But, let me fill you in on the marvelous things that have been consuming my life!

So we're making some changes to our photo biz. Name is changing to Bubbly Beard. I'm the bubbly and chris is the beard. We're doing a hubby/wife innovative creative photo team that offers unique vido too. Im super excited! Here's one of our new logos.

Yesterday I did a maternity session in a cotton field. I have been seriously dreaming of shooting in a cotton field for years and finally had the perfect couple to do it! I can't get enough of these photos!

And then of course it's quite the season for senior pictures! Meet MacKenzie. She was beautiful!

And of course family sessions are a huge hit this time of year. Here is the Holland family:

And this is the Swenson fam. Um....can I tell you how much I LOVE their dog! It's a goldendoodle and I need one asap.

More senior pics.....meet Meredith.

And her dog Charlie.

 Love this photo of the Kalman girls sooo much!

And this is the Dozier family. Little hams.

 

Alright, well that gets me somewhat caught up! I'm gonna work really super hard to be more active here....I promise!

Taking it all in...

over the years i've blogged a time or two about our desire for a baby.
it's something that i normally don't really talk about too much, but it consumes my heart always.
most couples feel like it's time for a child a couple of years into marriage.
well here we are coming up on our 7th year and we're more than ready for that next step.
but you see, our situation is one that needs some help from God.
i have pcos and that's a huge ordeal in trying to get preggers.
now let me say it is a blessing that we haven't had a child up to this point.
chris and i have been through some pretty dark times with circumstances in our lives that would have been very difficult to go through with a child. i mean there were times that we didn't know how we would be able to make our bills with just us, much less add another life to the mix.
but nonetheless, i am a woman, and we were created to create.
it's a desire in my heart that i was created to have.
and with chris just turning 30 and me approaching 30, it's something that is really a big deal for us.
however, i struggle with using fertility treatments.
i want more than anything for this to happen naturally.
i don't want to force it to happen.
i also think there's a fine line in trying to have a baby and trying to play God.
you know, maybe we're a family that's called to adopt.
there's just lots of underlying issues here.
it's the little things that get me - like what if i never know what it's like to hear a baby born from me cry for the first time?
this has been a multi-year struggle with me and god.

***Note: this is about to get spiritual***

since the new Hillsong album came out, there's a song called God Is Able and it has spoke to me since the first time I heard it. It's like it's God's song to me about this whole ordeal.

so lately, the want for a baby has been on my mind quite a bit.
wednesday night i was helping with our high school students at church and worship was awesome.
then the next song the band plays is God Is Able.
ok so i lost it.
and it was one of the most spiritual moments i've ever experienced.
i swear god spoke to my heart and asked "do you really believe what you're singing? do you believe i am able?"
seriously god?
wrecked me.
and of course i answered yes. and i felt him nudge me "then raise your hands and praise me in the midst of all this."
powerful stuff.
and it has changed me. it has given me more hope than ever before.
i know there are tons of people out there who are experiencing difficulty in starting a family.
and i wanted to share this, so that if it's you, or someone you know, that you may find some hope in it too.
and in honor of that god moment - here are they lyrics to "God Is Able" by Hillsong.

God is able

He will never fail
He is almighty God
Greater than all we seek
Greater than all we ask
He has done great things

[Chorus]

Lifted up
He defeated the grave
Raised to life
Our God is able
In His name
We overcome
For the Lord
Our God is able

God is with us
God is on our side
He will make a way
Far above all we know
Far above all we hope
He has done great things

[Chorus]

Lifted up
He defeated the grave
Raised to life Our God is able
In His name
We overcome
For the Lord
Our God is able

God is with us
He will go before
He will never leave us
He will never leave us
God is for us
He has open arms
He will never fail us
He will never fail us

[Chorus (x2)]

Lifted up
He defeated the grave
Raised to life
Our God is able
In His name
We overcome
For the Lord
Our God is able

For the Lord
Our God is able
For the Lord
Our God is able

Party Greatness

So a couple of weeks ago, my dear hubby turned the big 3-0!

And to embrace this new decade of life, we had a little outdoor bonfire party.

A HUGE THANK YOU to our buddies the Hollands who let us use their property for the party.

It was just beautiful. 

And of course, I wanted to share some photos with you - 

a) because I loved it and 

b) because I'm overly excited about my budget decor, so read all the way through!

I set up a picnic table with all of the food. Pumpkins were on sale for like $1.88 a piece, so I got a couple for the centerpiece with the balloons.

See those little two teal baskets? 2/$1 at the dollar store. I'm in love! They are currently being put to use in organizing granola bars in my kitchen!

 This was the entrance to the field where we had the party. I just love this picture! And what you can't really see is that we had tiki torches lining the drive in. Awesomeness!

I just can't get enough of balloon pictures as you can tell.

Me and the birthday boy!

And then the birthday boy himself!

Ok, now for my favorite part....my little bouquets! I had one on each end of the table.....grand total for both = $8!

EIGHT DOLLARS!

I got everything for them from the Dollar Tree. Love me some Dollar Tree.

So 2 vases, 2 bags of glass rocks, 2 sets of orange flowers and 2 sets of the straw. $8.00.
Isn't it pretty???? Doesn't it just make you think of something you'd find on Pinterest? By the way, if you're not already following me on pinterest, click the button under my profile pic here on the blog!

Ok back to the party.....cornhole. Have you ever played cornhole? It's really quite fun.

Ummm, so I messed up the settings on my camera momentarily and created this (unintentionally) and I just love it!

And this one too! See Chris' new head lamp!
He's holding up a box of moustache bandaids that our friends got him. Too funny!

And then they got him a bubble pipe!

Here's our friend Eric with his manly pipe and Chris with his bubble pipe.

Several weeks ago Chris tried to smoke a pipe .... twice actually. Turns out he had an allergic reaction which caused his tongue and lips to swell up huge for days! Here's what that looked like:

So the bubble pipe was to poke fun at him. LOVE it!

Dave Is Taking Over

well, it's in full swing.
our new budget, that is.
it's happening in a fierce way.
meet dave -

this is dave ramsey and he is quite the financial advisor.

he has a proven plan that works.

and while we've been playing with dave for 7 years on and off now, we've never embraced the program to it's fullest. we've just picked bits and pieces.

but dear friends, the time has come to completely commit to the entire dave ramsey total money makeover.

the joke this weekend was that i wasn't sure i'd be able to implement a budget and revamp the healthy lifestyle in the same week.

i know myself all too well and while i've had no need to spend money, the fact that it's all divided and spoken for in all these envelopes did something to me. and so last night i needed some fried chicken. it's been almost a year since i had true fried chicken. and since i knew dave would not approve of my spending at chick-fil-a or zaxby's, i was a good budgeter and came home and made it!

yep, fried chicken, biscuits and gravy.

it was delicious.

and gym time is in desperate need to work it off.

back to dave.

so yes we're on dave's plan fully.
envelopes have been created.
allowances given.
a new lifestyle in place.
3 days now of not eating a single meal out....for me at least.
this is huge.
and it's hard.
not the actual budget or the plan.
but the implementation of the budget.
it's hard to change your way of living.
but here's how we're looking at it......
we want to bring a baby into the picture soon, and well we want to make sure that everything is in place and ready to go.
we're going to need money to move when that baby comes along.
we're going to need a savings account that's fluffy for when i'm out on maternity leave.
we're going to need to be able to live month to month and not have that as an additional stressor.
we're going to need to be able to set up a college fund....my child will not go through what i am going through with trying to pay for school and pay back student loans.
and while none of these things are happening in this moment, we need to be good stewards with our money enough to plan for them.
and i believe that god wants to bless those who are faithful with what he provides.
faithful meaning using our gifts to be blessings to others.....not spend it all eating out every meal or buying random crap.
and so, here we are.
living on a budget.
or like dave says - temporarily living like no one else so that you can live like no one else.

New Music Tuesday

Hi friends!

I love Tuesdays. I love that new music comes out every Tuesday.

And for the past few Tuesdays, I've purchased some awesome tunes!

It's just not fair for me not to share so.....

One band I've recently been turned onto is Gungor. You may recognize their song "Beautiful Things" from a video I posted here several weeks ago. You can click HERE to refresh your memory ;)

But now they have a new album out called Ghosts Upon the Earth. So good. The more I listen the more I like it. Every song is completely different - they don't all sound the same. It's ranges from folky to post-modern rock. 

You have heard me profess my love for Need to Breathe plenty of times before. By far one of my all time favorites. They have a new album that just came out called "The Reckoning". This band is definitely southern rockish with songs that definitely have some Jesus loving undertones without being in your face. Awesome as always!

Now today, Phil Wickham's new album came out called "Response". I first heard his music last year while photographing a wedding. The bridal party and bride and first communion was all accompanied by different Phil Wickham songs. It was just beautiful and I was instantly hooked. I went home and downloaded the album. He's a contemporary Christian artist who's style is a bit folk mixed with acoustic rock and maybe a little bit like Coldplay. He's awesome. I can't wait to get this one!

And last, but not least, I'm so excited about this one. So this is Music Inspired By The Story. Basically the bible was taken and written into a book called The Story so it actually reads like one solid story. So various Christian artists came together to make this album including Natalie Grant, Mandisa, Bart Millard (Mercy Me), Mark Hall (Casting Crowns), Matthew West, Mac Powell, Jeremy Camp and many others (23 total). There are some awesome songs on this. So far my faves are "Alive" by Natalie Grant - all about Mary Magdalene and then "Born for This" by Mandisa, all about Esther. Ugh so good!